Niwot baseball putting up runs early in new season

Early on, things are already clicking for the Niwot High School baseball team.

The Cougars, under second-year head coach Ken Rosales, are off to a 2-1 start with a whopping 39 total runs scored in those three games. While it's still only mid-March, Rosales has been impressed by what he's seen from his players so far.

"(I've seen) a lot of fight from them," Rosales said. "They're very skilled players even though we're a young team. But with that, they give it their all."

Niwot began its season on March 10 with a 13-1 win at Tinmath High before returning north on March 14 to deliver an 18-1 thrashing to Greeley Central High. The Cougars then dropped their first game at Silver Creek High on March 15, 11-8. Down 8-4 after four innings of that game, Niwot rallied for four runs in the top of the fifth but allowed the Raptors to score three of their own in the bottom half. Silver Creek's bullpen kept the Cougs' offense scoreless for the remainder of the game.

"That was all on us," Rosales said of Niwot's loss at Silver Creek. "We made some pretty bad mistakes that cost us some runs, and I feel we were the better team, but on that day, it was Silver Creek - they beat us 11-8, but it was a good loss. It kind of told us where we're at and what we need to work on. Very fixable mistakes were made, so I don't see us doing that again."

Still, the Cougars' bats have had few issues producing runs through three games. Rosales said that his players are simply seeing the ball well and learning from new hitting coach Bobby Matthews, who is also Niwot's head softball and boys wrestling coach.

"They've been hitting what they've been given and putting it where they need to put it," Rosales said.

A trio of upperclassmen have stood out to Rosales as leaders so far: junior pitcher/outfielder Brock Rothstein, senior catcher Diego Castro and senior shortstop Jed Kilpatrick.

"Our seniors are doing what I expect from them and leading them," Rosales said. "Because other than that, we have sophomores, and we've had a couple of freshmen playing too."

On the mound, Rothstein has been the No. 1 arm, followed by Kilpatrick's younger brother, Jagger Kilpatrick, and a pair of twins, Charlie Shaw and Hayden Shaw.

Rosales said Niwot will take a few days off to begin spring break before returning to practice on Thursday, March 23. Niwot's home opener comes on March 28 against Thornton High School. Two days later, Longs Peak League play begins with another home game against Frederick High School.